


I'll Never Forget You

by jess (jess_m)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Barneswald - Freeform, Bucky Barnes Feels, Clara Without Doctor, Dark! Clara, Eleventh Doctor Era, F/M, Multi, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Pre-Captain America: The First Avenger, Pre-Episode: s07e14 The Name Of The Doctor, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Pre-Twelfth Doctor, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Clara Oswin Oswald, Sergeant Barnes, Steve Rogers Feels, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-27 16:04:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13251714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jess_m/pseuds/jess
Summary: What would you risk to save the man you loved from destined death?





	1. Stranded

**Author's Note:**

> As always, I do not own Doctor Who, nor do I own Marvel or any of the characters in this story. However, the plot progression is mine. Any lines originally found in the movies or in the show belong to those who rightfully owned them.   
> There are a couple videos which helped me come up with this story so here are the links in case you want to watch either of them:   
> Bucky Barnes & Clara Oswald, We'll Meet Again Under The Iron Sky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bIfJ6W9h9g
> 
> Bucky and Clara (+Doctor), Unstoppable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am6s7z5DDOY

Clara Oswald was alone and lost.

Now, the feeling of being lost was not uncommon for her. In fact, she felt it more often than most.

She had been travelling with the Doctor, a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, for five years now. 

He had shown her different planets, and universes and time periods that had yet to come as well as periods that were ancient history. She had seen the birth and death of planet Earth itself. She knew what it was like to be unfamiliar with her surroundings all too well.

However, this was entirely different.

The Doctor had taken her to America in the 1940’s, at the peak of World War 2. He had assured her it would be all right, but she had her doubts.

When they walked out of the Tardis, Clara donned her 1940’s, short, curly hair and dress and the Doctor was in his usual attire. No matter where they went, it seemed, the Doctor usually stuck to the same clothes and she ended up changing to fit in. She merely presumed that as a Time Lord he wore clothes that were timeless.

They roamed he streets for a while taking in the new setting which they were in, and it wasn’t long before some sort of trouble arose. The Doctor took off towards the screams and Clara, in heels, walked as fast as she could.

Eventually, she lost track of the Doctor and cursed her shoe choice.

Cussing her heels, she took them off and took a seat on the pavement, rubbing her feet.

“Bloody heels,” she muttered bitterly. “You just cost me a bit of action that the Doctor will never stop gloating about. Now I have no clue where the hell I am!”

“Don’t blame the heels for that,” a voice said behind her, bemused. “They’re innocent in this, I promise.”

The man sat down beside her wearing a soldier’s uniform.

“You don’t know the pain they’ve caused me,” she chuckled.

“British!” The man exclaimed. “We don’t get many Brits around these days. With the war and all people are scared to leave their homes let alone cross country,” he sighed. He placed his cap down beside him as he sat down next to her.

“Well, I sort of came with a mate that the bloody heels made me lose track of.”

“Ah, so there is some guilt here,” he smirked and she rolled her eyes entertained. He watched her, growing a bit concerned. “Do you need help finding your friend?”

She sighed. “No, at least I don’t think so. Even if he doesn’t come looking for me, we sort of have this place we can meet up at. I know he’ll go there, I just- it’s complicated.”

“Sounds like it. If you don’t need help,” he stood up and picked up his cap. He held out his hand and she frowned at it. “James Buchanan Barnes. You can call me Bucky.”

“Clara Oswald,” she replied, not shaking his hand. “You’re not leaving are you? I said I could find my mate I didn’t say I don’t want company.”

He smiled at her. “Sorry, Clara, but I have to find my own friend. His name is Steve and finding him is more urgent seeing as he tends to get into fights a lot more than he should seeing as he’s barely your height and half your body mass,” he rolled his eyes with a small smile as if he couldn’t believe what he was saying himself. 

“I can find him with you,” Clara assured him. “Finding the Doctor is less urgent considering the fact that he seems to always survive whatever situation he stumbles into.”

Bucky considered her for a moment before nodding. She darted up to him and he glanced upon the pair of heels in her hand. “I’ll hold those for you,” he offered and she grinned, clearly surprised. 

“Th-Thank you,” she handed the heels over, shocked.

“You seem surprised, does this Doctor friend of yours not know how to be a gentleman? Also, what sort of name is the Doctor anyway? Doctor who?” Bucky chuckled.

“No, no he does. Sometimes he’s a right idiot but he does have manners when he’s happy, and that’s just his name. He picked it. Just the Doctor.”

“What? People just call him Doctor? What happens if there’s another doctor in the room?” Bucky wondered.

Clara considered his question. “I don’t know really. I guess it just hasn’t happened while I’ve been with him. I suppose it would be a very awkward moment.”

“You say been with him… Are the two of you together?” Bucky asked casually.

“No, well yes,” Clara sighed. “I don’t know. I thought. A while ago I thought maybe, but he sort of changed. It’s a long story but he changed and grew colder. Now, I honestly don’t know anymore.”

“How did he change?”

“It’s really a long story,” she sighed. “So, tell me about this Steve. You said he was quite small yet still got into fights, why would he do that?”

Bucky laughed. “Steve’s an odd little guy. I’ve known him since we were kids and he was always the guy who stood up to the bullies, it didn’t matter if they were three times his size and had been in sixth grade for four years, he would fight for what was right. He just, he almost gets himself killed everytime he does it but for some reason that’s never what concerns him. He’s always concerned about what happened to the victims of the bullies.”

Clara watched Bucky talked about Steve with a smile on her face. It was clear to her that Bucky cared deeply for his friend. Bucky seemed to be a good man. A man she could trust while the Doctor was away. Especially since he had stopped and talked to her while dozens of others had just walked past her when she was clearly looking upset and defeated and had openly stated she was lost. He seemed kind and compassionate. Like he would be the type of person to donate all the money he had on him to a random person on the street because they were in need.

Just then he pair heard what distinctly sounded like a skull hitting a wall. They shared a horrified look and rushed down the alleyway they heard it from.

“HEY!” Clara shouted at the man that looked to be six feet punching the puny five foot boy. The boy appeared to be nearly unconscious and Clara turned the man towards her while Bucky helped the boy. 

“Like picking on people half your size do ya?” She said, her words dripping in venom.

“Look lady, I don’t wanna hit a girl.” The man raised his hands in surrender and began to back away and she rolled her eyes.  _ Pathetic. _

She kicked him in the balls, bringing him down to her size. She grabbed his collar roughly. “Oh, but you’ll hit a guy who can barely put up a fight as he is  _ half your size _ ?! You disgust me,” she punched him hard across the face and he dropped to the ground.

She clung her hand as it stung from the hard punch. She darted over to the boy and Bucky. “We have to go, That won’t last long at all and I can almost guarantee that he’ll be twice as angry when he wakes up.”

Bucky ran over to the six foot man while the boy seemed to be clearly trying to get a clear grip on reality and helped him stand up.

“I- W- I just-”

“Don’t try to talk, just go. Run!”

He shook his head breathlessly.

“No? What do you mean no? If he wakes up he will kill you,” Clara assured him.

“I have to stay,” the boy choked out.

Clara was shell- shocked, she looked at the boy, and didn’t understand what on Earth made him feel he needed to stay and finish the fight or get killed. Most likely the latter would come first for him.

All of a sudden, Clara heard a groaning sound behind her before a sharp cry and the sound of a body hitting the wet pavement. She turned to see Bucky smirking at both of them.Bucky’s eyes widened when he saw the boy standing, but just barely. 

He ran past Clara to the boy. “Steve! Steve are you okay?” Bucky did a quick glanced over his friend before letting out an irritated sigh. “You got your nose broken again?”

Clara nodded, finally understanding why he didn’t want to leave. This was the infamous Steve. He stood up for what he believed in. He didn’t back down from a fight.

“Man, what did you say to him?” Bucky muttered.

“I was waiting him out. Makes for a better comeback,” Steve sighed.

“Well, then I guess we kinda stole your thunder, Steve. Sorry about that,” Bucky apologized, clearly not looking apologetic at all.

Steve flipped him off and Bucky’s eyebrows flew up. “Wooh, that’s a risky one. I could have let kind Clara over here just let you get pummeled.”

“Yeah, like that would have worked,” she laughed before turning to Steve. “I’m Clara by the way. Clara Oswald.”

“Nice to meet you, even though there are better ways to meet a pretty girl than a face covered in blood and a broken nose,” Steve said, beginning to look very embarrassed. “I’m Steve Rogers.”

She giggled. “Don’t mention it, Steve. You know, my mum met my dad when he had a large leaf on his face, couldn’t get it off, and was in the middle of bloody traffic. There are all sorts of odd ways to meet people.”

He laughed at her, grateful for the comfort she provided.

The six foot man let out a deep moan from the ground that sounded like an earthquake as he rumbled from deep within his chest.

“And that’s our cue to leave,” Bucky announced,  wrapping an arm around Steve and seemingly about to do the same to Clara before hesitating and placing his arm by his side.

Steve and Bucky began to walk away from her when she placed her hands on her hips and cleared her throat like a mother that was cross with you and you didn’t know what for. They stopped in their tracks and turned to her.

“Are you just planning on leaving me?” She clarified and Bucky looked concerned at Steve who just raised his hands as if to say  _ keep me out of this.  _

“Well, we found Steve. It’s all good you can find the Doctor,” Bucky assured her.

“Not so fast,” she held up an impatient finger. “Do you know how to realign a broken nose?”

Bucky and Steve shared a look. 

“No, we-,” Bucky began before Clara cut him off. 

“Exactly. So, you still need me, and the Doctor can wait, he’s an old man he doesn’t have to have it all right when he wants it he just thinks it needs to be that way.” Clara walked past him and Bucky shared a surprised look with Steve.

So, they had a new member of their team.


	2. Nothing Lasts Forever

Steve was battered, beaten down, and positively a wreck but he somehow managed to make it up the steps. Clara had to hand it to him. What he lacked in size he made up for in fighting spirit, and blimey did he have more than enough fighting spirit.

Bucky brought them back to his house and Clara opened the door for them as they trudged inside. 

The flat was a nice quaint pace that looked like comfortable living for one or two people. It had a familiar homey vibe that Clara just couldn’t shake as she glanced around the room.

Bucky placed Steve on the couch and ran to go get some ice. He came back as Clara sat beside Steve on the sofa.

“So, you never said. What did you say to him to make him so mad?” She wondered and he sighed deeply.

“He was picking on some kids, I tried to tell him to leave them alone. Guess he didn’t like that too much,” Steve shrugged nonchalantly.

Clara couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Steve. He seemed to look at everything he did as if it were no big deal. It reminded her of a certain alien she spent far too much time with.

“What? Was he hitting them?” Bucky clarified.

“No, he heard their dad was drafted and I guess he thought it’d be a fun joke to scare them with war stories and telling them their dad was gonna die out there.”

Clara was astounded. All those times in history class you read about the war you don’t stop to think about the little kids who were affected by their parents going to war. Of course, you consider the poor children who are stuck in the midst of battle, but the kids getting bullied and harassed and maybe even losing their dads and brothers and uncles? She hadn’t considered them even half as much.

“That’s horrible,” she said.

Steve and Bucky nodded in agreement. 

“Yeah, he was being a real jerk,” Steve agreed.

“So did you hit him or did he hit you?” Bucky wondered.

“Well, he got the first punch in right after I yelled at him to stop, and I just- uh- yeah…,” he trailed off and Bucky nodded.

“So is chasing down bullies just a normal thing for you then?” Clara asked Steve.

“Not really. People usually start throwing punches when they disagree with me and I just figure standing up to them is better than running away. Especially when I know they’ll just get to bully someone quicker if I bolt.”

“That’s incredibly brave,” Clara admired and he gave her a small smirk.

“It would look more heroic if I didn’t have a broken nose right now,” he jested and she smiled.

“Seriously though, not many people would have the guts to do that. Bravo.”

“Thanks,” he winced as he shifted the ice on his nose.

Bucky watched her in awe. For the first time here was this girl who saw Steve for exactly who he was. Not this puny little kid but instead a brave hero who has saved dozens of kids on their block. She could actually be a good match for Steve, she was around the same height too, if that counted for anything.

“Right,” Clara clapped her hands startling both boys. “We need to clean up all this blood it’s all over his shirt and caked on his nose. Then, we can get started helping him get better. Do you have a first aid kit?” 

Bucky nodded and gestured to a cupboard which Clara waltzed over to it. She opened the cupboard and grabbed the first aid kit only to find it was nearly empty.

She didn’t know whether it was because of the sheer amount of fights Steve had been in or the war, but she wasn’t planning on asking any time soon.

She took a deep breath and turned to the men. “Okay, Bucky, can you get him to a washroom? We first have to try to deal with the dried blood.”

Bucky nodded and helped Steve up. “Come on, Steve.”

They trudged to the washroom while Clara took a seat and felt around her pockets for her phone. That’s right. Her dress had pockets. 

She began to panic when she couldn’t feel anything. “Bucky!” She called in distress.

Bucky darted out of the washroom, sensing her tone. “What’s wrong?”

“Do you remember me having anything in my pockets when we met? Something about the size of my hand? It would be obvious just looking at my whole dress.”

“No, sorry. Was it important?” He wondered. “Will it help with Steve?”

She sighed and raked her fingers through her hair. “It was my way to contact the Doctor. I was going to let him know that I wouldn’t be back to our meet up spot anytime soon, but I guess I can’t do that now.” She shook her head. “No matter. He won’t leave without me. At least I don’t think he will.”

She stood up and grabbed some cloth from the first aid kit. “All right. Did you get the blood off of him?”

Bucky nodded. She began to march past him before he grabbed her arm delicately.

“Listen, he may not look it but Steve is a fighter,” Bucky said firmly.

“Yeah, I can see that. That’s how he got his nose broken remember?” She joked but he just looked at her very seriously causing her smile to falter.

“I mean even when he needs it, he doesn’t like people helping him. He’s a good kid. But he’s stubborn as hell.”

She laughed. “I can see that.”

He smiled warmly at her and she returned the gesture before walking to the washroom to help Steve.

After they cleaned up all the dried on blood which took a good twenty minutes and Steve changing into one of Bucky’s shirt which was three times his size, Clara realized with a start that he looked even worse without all the blood. Before he put on Bucky’s shirt, he had bruises that riddled his chest, he had cuts that wrung around his ears, his jaw looked some awful combination of purple, brown and black, and his lip was mangled and split so badly it hurt Clara to look at it. She could tell that Bucky was fighting hard not to look at his scars either.

Still, despite his many wounds and embarrassingly large shirt, Steve walked out of the washroom with his chin high. 

Bucky announced that he was going to go soak Steve’s shirt, leaving Clara alone with Steve.

“Hey, I might need stitches on this one,” Steve told Clara pointing to his lip.

She smiled kindly and nodded, sitting on the sofa beside him.

“So what do you think happened to that bloke?” Clara wondered.

“What besides him making sure nobody knows he got his ass handed to him by a girl?” Steve laughed. “Congratulations on that one by the way. I would’ve done the same, but-”

“You were waiting him out?” Clara finished with a giggle.

“Exactly,” Steve sighed.

“Don’t mention it. It’s my pleasure to show arrogant blokes who’s boss.”

He chuckled and nodded before letting out a deep sigh. “Listen, um about Bucky?”

Clara turned to him, innocently awaiting whatever he planned to say. Steve gulped at receiving her full attention. Still, he knew he had to get this out before things got out of hand and she started getting the wrong idea.

“I think, well- I have a pretty good idea- he probably wants us to-”

“Start dating? Get married? Have children?” She laughed. “I kind of guessed from the look he was giving us ever since we walked in and I said you were brave. Also, by the fact that he just mysteriously has been gone for the past six minutes when soaking a shirt really shouldn’t take that long.”

“Yeah,” Steve nodded awkwardly. “That. He means well doing this. He really does, but that’s not. I mean not to say that you’re not beautiful. You are, but I’m not exactly comfortable. Not that you make me uncomfortable. I just-”

Clara cut him off with a sharp laugh. “Steve? It’s all right. I’m not even going to be around long. My mate and I will be leaving soon. If I can just find him first,” she looked only slightly troubled.

Clara would be more immediately concerned with finding the Doctor if she was in the midst of a very real, very terrifying threat. The only threats here were a man the same height as her and half her muscle mass and a very large, very adorable army man that she couldn’t help but admit was gorgeous.

An awkward silence ensued and Steve had an overwhelming urge to change the subject. “So, um, where did you learn to realign a broken nose?” Steve wondered.

“Well, originally I started learning how to deal with wounds because I was this sort of live-in nanny slash babysitter slash caretaker for these two kids after their mum died. The practice stuck when I began travelling about with this reckless mate of mine. He can usually recover from these things fairly quickly but he likes to have immediate relief from the pain. He likes everything immediately, my mate,” she sighed with a mixture of irritation and adoration.

“What’s his name?” Steve asked.

“The Doctor.”

“Doctor who?”

Clara chuckled. “I can see why he’s so obsessed with that,” Clara mumbled. “Just the Doctor.”

“Okay,” Steve muttered awkwardly.

Another long silence ensued but slightly less awkward. Only slightly.

By then Bucky waltzed into the room and tossed an ice cloth at Steve. “Put that on your face. Okay, Clara. It’s been a pleasure but it’s almost night. Can you and the Doctor stop by tomorrow? Maybe, you can have a look at Steve’s lips?” Bucky asked very casually.

_ Have a look at his lips? He’s got to be kidding. _

Clara bit her lip to keep from laughing and Steve’s eyes inflated.

“No, I think you can handle that properly for yourself, mate,” Clara told him with a pat on his back. “I will still come over tomorrow though. Wouldn’t want poor Steve to die in your hands now would I?”

Clara winked at Steve and waved goodbye to Bucky. “Bye!”

Clara walked through the unfamiliar streets, following her memory to where the Tardis was parked. Maybe, there she could find her phone as well. She assumed it had just simply dropped it in the desperate rush to catch up with the Doctor in her stubborn heels.

She had to admit she would miss the two men. They had shown her genuine kindness and allowed her into their lives when she was alone and lost. It was rare that you found that kind of unconcerned kindness in her time period. Nowadays, people were more concerned with the possibility of being murdered or robbed.

Regardless, she sighed, they were still long gone in her time. Either that or old men too ancient to remember a girl from what looked to be their early twenties. 

Still, that Bucky bloke was incredibly kind and caring. She admired him for the way he cared for Steve. He was a tall, strong, handsome man. He could have easily been the most popular boy at school. He could have hundreds of mates and be concerned with much more than the small, skinny weakling who was unable to even put up a proper fight because he was so small. However, he stayed by Steve’s side and cared for him regardless. That said so much about him.

Just then, Clara stopped in her tracks. 

The Tardis was gone.

“No, no, no, no, no!” She screamed, running around the place where the Tardis once was. “You did NOT leave me here. You did not leave me stranded!” She bellowed as random bystanders gave her funny looks.

She collapsed onto the ground, not truly allowing herself to believe she was now stuck in the 1940’s.

Her mind raced. He wouldn’t just abandon her. 

He couldn’t.

He wouldn’t dare.

But he did.

She looked around at everyone who was now staring at her with a mixture of concern and amusement as they watched her.

She took a deep breath, wiped away a few stray tears that had escaped, stood up, and walked back in the direction she came.

If she was truly stuck in the 1940’s there were only two people who could help her not be abandoned on the street.


	3. Elastic Heart

Bucky grumbled as he heard the frantic knock on his door. It was probably Steve coming to talk about that girl again. Not that Bucky minded of course. The pair would be perfect together. If he could just get her to cut back on the sarcasm. He had to admit it was amusing though, and she was in fact a beautiful girl who was fascinating as well as intelligent. However, that was not for him to say. He was supposed to be setting her up with Steve, not developing feelings for her. That was kind of the opposite of the point.

He was already in his pyjama pants for bed when the knock came. He trudged to the door with his toothbrush in his mouth and toothpaste dribbling down his chin. He flung the door open, not paying any mind to who was there as he assumed it was Steve.

“Charming. To say the least,” a feminine voice remarked with amusement in her tone.

His eyes widened and he turned to see Clara Oswald standing at his door with her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face.

“Do you always answer the door like this? Because while I don’t necessarily love the toothpaste on the chin thing,” she gestured to his chin and he wiped it away frantically while she giggled, “I could definitely get used to the whole answering the door shirtless.” She said, grinning at his bare chest.

“Like that do you?” He smirked.

“Oh, hell yes,” she said admiring his six pack.

He was about to continue flirting with her, gazing at her beautiful figure, when he remembered with a start that he wasn’t supposed to be doing that in the first place.

“Wh- uh, what are you even doing back here?” He asked.

Her smile automatically disintegrated. “I- well, remember my mate? The Doctor?”

“You mentioned him plenty of times. Yes, yes I do.”

“He kind of left me alone here.”

“What about that meet up spot you told me about? Wouldn’t he be there?”

“That’s where it gets difficult. You see the meetup spot was kind of like his car if you will and he drove away.” She sat down on the sofa

Bucky nodded, understanding, and sat down beside her. She liked that he was very clearly listening to her and engaged in what she was saying. She added it to the list of many things there were to admire about him.

“I don’t really live around here, or anywhere even remotely close so I was wondering if I could maybe stay here for a while? I dunno how long, until he comes back or I guess until I can get a job here. I just- I really don’t know what to do now.” She began to tear up and placed her hands over her eyes so he wouldn’t see her scared and devastated.

He rubbed her back soothingly. He could tell that she was desperate right now and just needed a friend.

“You can stay here as long as you need. Whether it’s a couple days, weeks, months or years. I won’t mind so long as you’re okay.”

She sniffled and looked back up at him. “Thank you,” she mumbled.

“I look out for my friends,” he replied and enveloped her in a hug.


	4. The Power of Three

She woke up to the sweet smell of freshly baked pancakes and Bucky humming a light tune.

She inhaled deeply as she gracefully awakened and sighed happily as she stretched, while sitting up with a yawn.

Bucky peered over his shoulder and grinned. “Morning, sleeping beauty.”

She got up and walked over to him to steal a glance at the pancakes. “I feel exhausted. I feel-”

He chuckled. “You’ve been asleep for five hours, princess.”

“Five hours? Bloody hell, that felt like five seconds.”

He laughed. “It always does. Anyway, I got hungry and started making food.”

She jumped on the counter and he laughed once more. 

“Trying to be taller than me, sweetheart?”

“Oi!” She angrily swatted at him and he just continued to laugh. She rolled her eyes and glanced around for things to snack on when Bucky placed a banana in her hands. 

She grinned at him and began to peel the banana.

“So, he cooks, he’s in the army, and he takes care of his friends. Is there anything you  _ can’t  _ do?” She wondered and he just chuckled.

“Math,” he replied honestly and she looked at him to see if he was serious before laughing aloud.

“I can’t either,” she admitted with a shrug. “I was rubbish at it in grade school. But in my defense the teacher was an awful woman who sent kids to the head teacher if they looked at her funny.”

“And did you?”

“Oh, loads of times,” Clara grinned. “I was one of her ‘worst pupils’.”

Bucky laughed alongside Clara as he flipped the pancakes. 

“What about you? Ever get in trouble in grade school?” She wondered.

“Sometimes. Half the time it was me stopping some fat guy from beating the shit out of Steve but other times it would be stuff like caught making out on school grounds, during class hours, or skipping class altogether and going to the pizza place a couple blocks away.”

“Ooh, we’ve got a rebel!” Clara exclaimed with a laugh. Bucky laughed as well as he finished the pancakes.

He got out two plates and placed one on Clara’s plate. She took a bite and moaned. “Mm, this is gorgeous! Where did you learn to cook?”

“My mom. She hated that my dad always forced her to cook and said; James, if you remember anything I taught you remember this: sexism is not going to help you when you’re starving in a house filled with food.”

Clara giggled and nodded. “Our mum’s would’ve got on. My mum always yelled at my dad and smacked him if it was the fourth week in a row she had been cooking and he hadn’t done a thing,” Clara chuckled at the memory. 

“Our mom’s should meet,” Bucky agreed.

Clara looked down at her lap and placed her pancake at her side. Bucky got the message. It was January 1942. He understood death and the look of loss.

“How long?” He asked.

“I was nineteen,” she replied softly.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s all right. I brought her up. My fault,” she nodded firmly before grabbing her pancake and stabbing it multiple times very roughly as she cut it, her expression vacant and dead to the world.

Bucky watched her with concern, wondering if he had lost the bright cheery girl she had been only moments before.

He placed his hand gently on her shoulder and she looked up at him with watery eyes.

“I shouldn’t have brought her up,” she mumbled.

Bucky watched her carefully. “What was she like?”

Clara smiled softly. “She was- she was amazing. She was funny. She was kind to everyone she met. She- She believed in living life while you still could. Traveling everywhere possible. Experiencing everything possible, and having fun above all.”

“She sounds a lot like what I’ve seen from you,” Bucky said truthfully.

Clara smiled. A real smile. “Thanks.” She sighed deep sigh. “How’s Steve?”

Bucky sensed the need for a change of subject and nodded. “He’s alright. Well, I guess I wouldn’t know for sure would I? He’s a fighter, Steve, but he needs to learn to accept help from people.”

Clara nodded. “Bucky?”

Bucky raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t really fancy him. Steve I mean. He’s brilliant and brave and all that don’t get me wrong, but I dunno he’s just not the type of bloke I fancy.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Bucky nodded. Even he had to admit as time went on seeing Steve and Clara together was getting harder and harder to picture. Try as he might the more he learned about her the worse a girlfriend she seemed for Steve. He, however, steadily grew more and more attracted to her the more she opened up about.

“So, you’re not going to keep trying to make us snog?” She clarified.

He barked out a laugh which caused her to grin. “No, I won’t put you two through that,” he joked. “Someone forcing you to be with someone you don’t like is one thing but for that person to know that you two don’t like each other and still try? That’s torture.”

‘You sound like you’re speaking from experience,” she noted.

“I had plenty of friends before Steve with plenty of girls who wanted to date me as friends.”

“Bloody hell, you say that like it was dozens.”

“It felt like it sometimes,” he sighed deeply.

“Did you ever date any of them?”

He shook his head. “While they were beautiful, it’s hard to fall in love with someone if you know nothing but how good looking they are. You gotta know someone at their worst and at their best to have a real relationship with them.”

Clara smiled at that. “Not too often you hear that from a guy.”

He chuckled. “I was close to my mom.”

“Are you sure you’re not gay?”

He laughed. “No, why?”

“Well, you know, 1940’s. Everyone’s parenting techniques around this time,” she shrugged. 

“You say that like a woman out of her time.”

“Yeah, that’s a story for another time.”

“Fair enough,” he nodded. She had already told him so much and yet he had the feeling there was still much more to tell. 

Just then, there was a knock at the door and Bucky frowned at Clara as she began to wash her plate. She mirrored his expression and he walked to the door.

He opened it and Steve looked frantic with fresh blood across his face. “Is she still here?”

Bucky groaned and widened the entrance area so Steve could pass. Clara backed out of the kitchen so she could see who was at the door and rolled her eyes with a small smile. 

Steve frowned at her clothes and it was only then that she remembered Bucky had lent her his pyjama pants and a large jumper that was halfway down her thighs.

“Did you sleep here?” He turned to Bucky. “Did she sleep here?”

“Yeah, and?” Bucky gestured as if he needed to get to the big picture.

Steve stared at them for a long time before walking over to Clara and mouthing,  _ does he still want us to go out?  _ Clara laughed and shook her head no and Steve sighed in relief.

“It’s nothing, Buck,” Steve reassured Bucky at his confused look. Bucky wasn’t so sure and raised an eyebrow at Clara. 

_ Later,  _ she mouthed and he nodded.

“So, Doctor Oswald, can you fix me up again?” Steve wondered and Clara laughed, not only at his need for yet another patch up so quickly, but at the term Doctor Oswald which she remembered telling her old mate Rigsy was her name.

“I’ll do it,” she nodded. “But only if you tell Bucky and I what happened this time.”

He glanced between their amused expressions and sighed deeply before nodding.

Clara helped him recover with the assistance of Bucky while Steve told them about a bloke picking on some little kids who wanted to join the army. The children, no older than ten were playing around and dreaming of fighting bravely for their country while the bloke just poked fun of them and made one of the kids even cry. When Steve yelled at him to leave them alone, he stood up and revealed that he was at least six feet tall and huge. 

The rest was history.

Bucky and Clara helped to heal Steve until he was wiped clean of blood and had ice on his bruises and all his wounds covered or stitched up.

“Y’know you should really train to be a nurse in the war,” Bucky told her.

“Really?” Clara said. She had thought about many possible jobs, but a nurse?

“He’s right. They could use people like you,” Steve agreed, wincing as he sat down on the sofa.

“Huh, I guess I never thought of that. It’s not a bad idea though.”

Bucky nodded with a smile. He knew he had to tell them eventually, but now, now was too perfect. Too nice to ruin. Maybe, if Clara actually took up being a nurse. Then. Then he would consider telling them.

“Okay, what do you say to some ice cream? This one could use it,” Bucky smirked, gesturing to Steve.

“Erm, Bucky?” Clara said. “I haven’t got any clothes,” she laughed and Bucky’s eyes widened. “Or any money for that matter,” she frowned. “Oh, bloody hell, I’m going to have to get a job.”

“And we wring back around to the nurse!” Steve exclaimed and Clara just watched him with steady eyes until Steve began to squirm under her gaze.

“Seriously though, do you really think I could be a nurse?” She asked.

“No doubt in my mind,” Steve assured her and she took a deep breath before bouncing back into her light-hearted, bubbly manner. 

“Right then! I’m going to need at least two changes of clothes and with regret one of you boys will have to go get it while I wash my dress because I am not going out in the middle of 1942 America in Bucky’s pyjama pants.”

Bucky and Steve shared a very long look that seemed to express a whole conversation just with their eyes. Eventually, Steve groaned.

“Fine, I’ll go!” He exclaimed, getting up with a huff, grabbing the fistful of money that Bucky held out for him and slamming the door as he left.

Clara and Bucky exchanged an entertained look and went to go wash her dress.

“So, how did you even meet Steve?” She wondered.

“A while back when we were like thirteen or fourteen. I was surrounded by a huge group of friends. Well, I called them friends but I barely knew them if I’m being honest. Anyway, he was eating alone, but somehow he was happy. He was smiling as he sat at a table all by himself meanwhile I was frowning at a table overflowing with people. Let’s just say it peaked my interest. One day I decided to sit with him. I was laughed away from all the popular kids but I didn’t care after I hung out with Steve more and more because I realised that the amount of friends you have doesn’t matter if they’re all complete shit to you. If you have one good guy by your side for life, you did good.”

Clara smiled at him. He really was a great guy.

They finished washing her dress and left it out to dry and were eating snacks and laughing at old stories they shared and books they both loved when Steve trudged back inside with his arms filled with shopping bags.

“Jesus, Steve!” Bucky shouted, getting up immediately and helping him with the bags.

Clara stared at him in shock. “I said two outfits!”

Once all the bags were out of his hands he grabbed the water Bucky handed him and chugged it before responding. “I bought night clothes and day clothes.”

“What did you buy a month’s worth?! You didn’t have to do that for me!” She was astounded by the amount of kindness these two men had in them every second.

“You needed them,” he responded simply before collapsing onto the sofa and falling asleep almost automatically.

Bucky and Clara shared looks of pure astonishment. “So I guess that weighs out ice cream for today, huh?” Bucky guessed and Clara chuckled before pulling out everything from the shopping bags.

He didn’t just buy her day clothes and night clothes, he bought her shoes, hair accessories, jewellry, makeup, everything a girl could need to survive for months.

Clara began to tear up at the generosity this man had shown her.

“Like I said, Clara, he’s a good guy. He sees someone in need he can’t bear to do anything but help.”

Clara smiled at the clothes before turning to Bucky. “You’re the same you know. You saw me in need of help when I needed a place to stay and opened your arms at the snap of your fingers. You’re both good men.”

“Thanks, but,” he took a deep breath. “I can only hope to be half the guy Steve is.”

“You already are,” Clara told him honestly. “Way more than half.”

“A nice thought.”

“No, that’s the truth, Bucky,” she told him firmly, now seriously concerned that he didn’t see himself in the wonderful light she had put him in.

He just smiled, but it wasn’t like all his other smiles she had seen. This smiled carried the weight of awful demons he had not yet come to face. His own self doubt gnawing at the back of his mind just awaiting a chance to truly strike. He smiled, the saddest face Clara had ever seen.

“Clara, I don’t need to be lied to. I just can’t right now.” He was about to storm away when she grabbed his arm.

“Listen, if you do nothing else then just listen. You are one of the kindest, most compassionate, caring men I’ve ever met and in the short time I’ve known you I’ve grown to care about you and Steve as if you were members of my own family. You’ve taken me in when nobody would even think to and been there for me when I felt lost, so don’t you dare think so little of yourself. You, James Buchanan Barnes, are so much more.”

He stared at her very robotically for a while and Clara tensed up for a second, worried that he might explode at her for some silly reason or she had crossed some unforeseen boundary and he was about to kick her out. Instead, he did the total opposite of her worst fears and a smile slowly creeped onto his face before she too began to grin at his smile. His real smile filled with laughter and joy.

“Thank you,” he whispered and she nodded before wrapping him in a big hug.


	5. Adjusting to the 1940's

Over the next few weeks, Bucky treated Clara to many  _ many  _ tours of Brooklyn and New York as she had just a vague idea about where most things were.

It was odd at first, getting used to the idea that she may have to spend her life here, but with the help of Bucky and occasionally Steve that idea became less and less of a horror and more and more of something she could actually be somewhat happy with.

She thought of her dad and her life back in England a lot. She did cry from time to time over what she lost, but all too often Bucky would appear from seemingly nowhere and comfort her in times of trouble. 

He told her how he had lost a lot as well and one particularly hard night he told her that he wasn’t in the army. Not officially anyway. His dad was and that was his uniform that he wore because last December he died in combat and Bucky wore his uniform to not only honour his memory but to commemorate him for his sacrifice. It was one of his dad’s older uniforms of course because he was buried with his more recent one. He wore it occasionally anyway when his dad as alive and his dad would simply laugh and tell him that he can wear it to prepare for his own uniform in the army.

After that, the pair hung out together everyday. Even when Clara started training to officially be a nurse in the army, they still stuck together. 

Steve noticed their close relationship and wanted to allow them to have that so he gave them space and didn’t go round to Bucky’s every day or every other day with his failed attempts at enlisting like he used to. He didn’t mind and used the time to think of his own ways to enlist and train in case he ever, just by chance, got his shot.

Clara attempted to cook souffles for Bucky based off her mum’s recipe which she knew by heart. Everytime she tried something went horribly wrong and more than once they had to call the fire department.

The third time they called the fire department, one of the firefighters actually tried to show Clara how not to burn it. Which she then proceeded to try under their watchful eye while Bucky exploded with laughter in the corner.

He always poked fun of her burning the souffles to which she would glare at him and he had long since learned to roll his eyes at and laugh because she would just carry on trying to make the souffle regardless.

The firefighter’s technique did work, but instead it ended up undercooked instead of overcooked.

She reached a breaking point and they all ordered pizza.

Besides that, Bucky and Clara actually winded up bonding over their interest in novels. They both loved a good mystery and one day over ice cream were ranting about the brilliance behind Agatha Christie while Steve stuck hard to the fact that he thought mysteries weren’t all that interesting. 

Clara insisted that Agatha had only gotten her once and it was a really good one, but under the hard knowing stare of Bucky she broke and admitted that it may have been four times but she’s a brilliant writer and she sincerely wished he would stop laughing at her so much.

After three months of living together and one particularly hard night of training, Clara decided she could finally trust Bucky enough to tell him her biggest secret: the Doctor.

She arrived home late and Bucky was already snoring in their room.

That’s right, their room.

Clara had begun to get serious pains in her neck after sleeping on that tiny sofa and while she didn’t want to complain after all the two men had given her, Bucky still noticed and decided that she deserved a real bed so he allowed her to sleep in the same bed as him. 

She hugged him for five minutes straight while saying thank you so many times Bucky wondered how she didn’t grow hoarse.

She woke him up gently as he mumbled adorably whilst rolling over.

“I need to talk to you,” she whispered and his eyes reflected immediate concern. “No, no, no nothing’s wrong,” she assured him, noticing the look on his face. “It’s just. Remember the Doctor?”

He nodded. “Yeah? Of course. He’s the reason you’re here in the first place, which I could easily hate him for but if I’m being honest you’re a lot of fun to be around.”

She grinned. “Really? Oh, what am I saying you just woke up you would be spouting random things,” she sighed with a wave of her hand. He was about to object when she cut him off. “There’s something about the Doctor I haven’t exactly told you. Can you meet me on the sofa?”

He nodded, not so much concerned as he was curious.

She walked out and he followed, not bothering to put on pants. 

They had been living together for almost two months. There had been all too many accidental walk ins but they had never been exactly quick to close the door again unless the other person expressed their lack of consent. If they did, then they would apologize a million times and slam the door immediately.

She didn’t even care that he was nude, she had other things on her mind.

Once he sat down, she took a deep breath.

“Right, so you remember how I said I was traveling with the Doctor?”

Bucky nodded.

“Well, I wasn’t exactly traveling just Earth,” she sighed. “You said I seem like I’m out of my time, it’s… it’s because, well I am. See, the Doctor, he’s not exactly human. He’s from this other planet and his time and space machine can go anywhere in, well, time and space. He sometimes picks up these people to travel with him so he feels less lonely I guess,” she groaned. “God, I make us sound like stray dogs,” she shrugged. “I guess in a way we are, but my point is, I came here from the early twenty-first century.”

Bucky’s eyes widened as he attempted to process all that she had just told him. Aliens? Time and space machines? It didn’t make sense, but somehow it also did.

Then, he remembered one of Clara’s nights up crying. She told him she had lost her whole world. He had thought she was just grief ridden and didn’t really mean it, but apparently he couldn’t have been more wrong.

“So, you really did lose your whole world?” He clarified and she nodded with teary eyes.

“You believe me?” She asked and he just enveloped her in a hug.

“What reason would you have for lying other than to just pull one over on me with Steve laughing in some corner?” He chuckled. “And if you wanted to do that you could’ve done it ages ago.”

She smiled, grateful to have this off of her chest.

“Thanks for telling me though.”

She nodded.

“Now, come on,” he grabbed her hand and lead her back to the room. “It’s one am and we both need all the sleep we can get in the middle of a war.”

She chuckled and wiped away a few stray tears before following him to the bed.

After that, Bucky and Clara were closer than ever. They went to the cinema and out for ice cream almost every week and even began to read old favourite novels they had in common together.

Clara told Bucky stories of outer space and aliens that he wouldn’t have imagined in his wildest dreams and Bucky told her stories of his childhood. Stuff he could remember very vividly from his childhood, a lot of them before he even met Steve.

Clara enjoyed learning about Bucky before he grew into the strong athletic man he was now. It was like taking the richest, most popular bloke you knew and turning him into a small little innocent child again. Though, Bucky wasn’t rich and never had been it was still an idea that left her in awe.

They grew closer as months passed until one day they knew almost everything they could about each other.

Clara found herself thinking of what she left behind less and less and spending more time living in what she knew to be in front of her. She was becoming apart of the 1940’s. Time was working her into that setting as she developed memories and a life there.

One day, in her training they gave her the news that they could ship her off to England within six months at the rate she was learning. She ran home to tell Bucky and little did she know he had similar news.

“They can ship me off in four months. I applied a little after I met you.”

“That means two months with me still here. Two months with me unable to help you.”

He just gave her a sad look as the reality of this sunk in.

“I’m sorry. I thought. Well, I really hoped that they had maybe ost my enlistment with the sheer amount of men enlisting and maybe I could enlist again when you were about to be shipped out. But, we’ll still end up together.”

She took deep breaths. Two months was a lot of time to be in combat. Men died in two months. 

She stood up and turned away, trying to hide the teas that began to work up. Bucky knew her better though and turned her to him.

“It’s just two months.”

“Oh, don’t say that to me James Buchanan Barnes you know damn well that I could lose you in the span of two months!” She yelled before turning around to allow her tears to flow freely.

“Hey,” he said soothingly, turning her back to him. “I’m not going anywhere,” he reassured her before hugging her tightly. “Besides,” he sighed. “We’ve still got four months haven’t we?”


End file.
